


remembrance

by eraserbitz



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, M/M, im really lame, self indulgent zombie!au, yeah thats about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1914807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eraserbitz/pseuds/eraserbitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another time. Another world. And really, that's all they have left. self indulgent zombie!au // oneshot. levi/eren</p>
            </blockquote>





	remembrance

**Author's Note:**

> inspiration taken from various things in the genre including the walking dead, the last of us, etc.   
> huge thanks to Bea for looking over it and editing this!!  
> please enjoy & thanks for reading!!

_“remembrance”_

(noun). the length of time over which

recollection or memory extends

_i._

It's funny really, how people always say there are some things you can never really forget. It's true - after all, Eren can't forget seeing a living corpse hunched over his mother's pale, lifeless body. But the saying did forget to mention the factor of _time_. With time, memories slowly wore away, the details disappearing with each second. And then all you can really remember is what stood out the most at the time. Maybe it was a sound or a taste, or a thought you had at the moment. Either way, Eren thought, everything else became a part of the background, like the faded edges of a photograph.

So when people say that phrase he always thinks it's a bit funny.

But he doesn't really hear it anymore anyway. He doesn't really see people either. It's just him and Levi, and sometimes, sometimes, Eren wished he could hear the sound of cars rumbling in the mornings, and wake up to the high bustle of cities full of the noise pollution in the world.

He just wished it wasn't so _silent_.

That's an exaggeration of course - to some extent at least. Eren has Levi, and they talk, make noise with their feet crunching in the grass, sometimes banging around their base a little too loudly for comfort. And at night there's always something to hear; the arrhythmic, continual groans of the undead, his pulse raising at the dead of night and occasionally, shrieks of terror or gunshots or _both_. It's like they were in a never ending horror movie. Except Eren was pretty sure this was a million times worse.

It gnawed at his conscience, despite Levi's attempts to ease his guilt. Eren knew it wasn't  just for him, it was for Levi too. But he kept it to himself, anyways. Some things should be left unspoken, untouched.

Levi was such a blessing to him. _Is_ such a blessing to him. Comfort - no matter how awkward he can be with his shitty poop jokes - is a thing that's hard to come by in a world like this, where death could come knocking on your door anytime. Having a warm body pressed onto his back in the dead of night does wonders for Eren's soul. Especially on the nights when his thoughts begin to take a toll on him and his emotions get the better of him.

At one point, people had thought a cure would come. Maybe in a few months, give or take, or a year or two max. That wasn't the case. There was no cure. There was nothing. It had been _years_ since the first outbreak. Years since anyone had even mentioned talk of a cure.

Eren tried not to think of it too much; Levi and himself weren't fond of discussing things that were too...optimistic. Realists were the only ones who survived.

"It's called natural selection, idiot," Levi gently corrected him, slight scoffing at his mistake, while looking through their supplies. "Charles Darwin, remember?"

"Oh, be quiet you," Eren snapped back without malice, as he finished folding the blankets. "I took biology a really long time ago - who gives a fuck about Darwin anyways? And uh, stop being a mind reader. That's creepy."

"Not my fault you were mumbling all this introspective stuff in the middle of day," Levi replied, amused, "And I'll have you know, I had a friend," Levi ignored Eren's snort at his words, "who is really into science and she'd have your head if she heard you talking about Darwin like that."

"Hey, I have a bookworm friend too!" Eren hastily replied back.

Once upon a time, they would have refrained from talking about people from their past, begining to mention them, only to cut themselves short. Eren had noticed Levi do it multiple times on occasion - years ago, of course - and he had done the same. But now everything was open, everything was almost-

_normal._

Somehow, at least. There was a routine of sorts and danger around every corner but it was something. And Eren was clinging onto that something.

"Not gonna give me a kiss?" Eren said, batting his eyelashes playfully, and puckering up. He approached Levi, careful not to lean down too much: it pissed Levi off that he was taller than him.

"Hell no," Levi retorted, shoving his face away, "you get your stinky ass mouth away from me until you've gone and brushed your teeth. Speaking of which, we'll need to go out today. Supplies are running low."

Eren deflated a bit. “Fine,” he relented. “I think we’ll need to start stocking up on wood soon too; winter’s coming. Probably reinforce the barriers too.”

“For once your head is screwed on right,” Levi said goodnaturedly, ruffling his hair. Eren tried to prevent a cheeky grin from creeping across his lips when he saw Levi on his tip toes to reach his head.

He bent down a bit. “Better?” Eren asked, amusement in his eyes.

“Fuck you.”

_ii._

Levi looked towards him, waiting for Eren to show he was ready. Eren nodded in affirmation as Levi slowly opened the door, guard up. They entered into the house quickly, walking cautiously and steadily. Eren heard the distinctive sound of the undead and whirled around, swinging his bat, denting the zombie’s head. He tightened his grip on the bat when it fell to the floor, and grimaced as he smashed the zombie’s head a few more times to make sure it would stay dead.

“You alright?” Levi called from the kitchen, pausing from opening cabinets and searching for any canned food. “No nicks or anything?”

“Nothing,” Eren confirmed, looking at his bloodied bat with distaste. He’d have to clean it later. “Did you find anything?”

“Yeah,” Levi replied, straightening up from his crouched position. “Couple of canned beans and corn. Better than some of the other houses. Let’s go through the rest of the house. Take any lightweight blankets too - better to get them now than later.”

By now, the months of light were starting to dissolve into colder and chillier days. Leaves were starting to decorate the ground and Eren knew it was close to autumn. Soon, winter would come and they would need to stock up on food, fuel, water - supplies in general. Winter months could be rough with extreme cold and snow.

Gone were the days of playing outside and messing around in snow.

After clearing the main floor, Eren approached the master bedroom, ready and armed. He opened the door quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief when there was no intermediate danger. Looking towards the bed, Eren saw bloodied remains: no doubt, of humans. Eren backed out of the room and closed the door softly, nose wrinkling at the smell of dead flesh.

“Anything?”

Eren winced as he felt his heart jump against his chest, beating erratically. “No,” he gestured weakly, trying to catch his breath.

He felt Levi’s worried eyes on him as he folded into himself, hands on his bent knees. “Eren,” Levi said softly, putting a soothing hand on his back, “do you need to sit down for a bit?” Eren’s eyes shot to Levi’s face, thinking about the rest of the house, and the monsters that could still be lurking within. “I’ve already cleared the rest of the house,” he added, reading Eren’s mind.

“No,” Eren gasped, “I’ll be fine, I just need a little bit of time to,” he took a ragged breath, “control my breathing.”

“Alright.” Levi said, and he began to stroke Eren’s hair, and Eren leaned into his touch, feeling Levi’s warm body against his. It took a few minutes, and he felt his breathing even out. Eren pressed his face against Levi’s chest.

“Don’t do that,” Levi gently eased Eren away from his chest, “I don’t want you to lose your rhythm. Sorry I scared you.”

Eren pursed his lips together. “Wasn’t your fault,” he paused, “that room had remains,” he finished, tilting his head towards the master bedroom. “Just got caught off guard and seeing that before didn’t help.”

He felt Levi nod against his head. “After we finish this we’ll go back home, okay?”

Eren jolted up against Levi. “No, don’t stop because of me-” he stopped midway, closing his eyes as he felt dizziness from moving so quickly.

“Idiot,” Levi pressed his forehead against Eren’s, knotting his fingers into the back of Eren’s hair. “We’ve gone pretty far anyways. And don’t lie, that took a bit out of you. We’ve done fine for today.”

Sighing, Eren relented. “Fine.”

They scouted the rest of the house together, finding a few blankets and other supplies and returned home before dark.

_iii._

Night draped over the houses and streets. Eren drew the curtains shut around the boarded up windows, turning to Levi sitting by a lit candle. He approached Levi, sniffing and felt a wave of nostalgia at the scent of cupcakes filling the air.

“Where did we ever find that?” Eren asked, amused, but delighted at the candle. He sat down next to Levi, snuggling next to him.

“No clue,” Levi shrugged, throwing an arm over Eren’s shoulder. He opened up a book, one Eren hadn’t read before, and he read along with him. Eren flipped a couple pages - considering the fact that Levi’s arm was busy rubbing Eren’s side, he probably needed him to do that.

It was times like these that life almost felt normal. No zombies, no death, guts and blood everywhere you went. And here, inside, being on a sofa, snuggled up to Levi, kept him sane. It gave something to hold onto, to look forward to in such a rotten world they had now.

It was like another time. Another world. And sometimes, it was all Eren felt like they had left.

“They reminded me of my mom,” Eren began quietly, using his fingers to trace around the page. He saw Levi’s fingers tighten around the book corner. “It was unnerving.”

“Eren,” Levi said, “you don’t have to explain yourself.” He rubbed Eren’s shoulder.

“It’s fine,” Eren let out a shuddering breath. “I need to talk about it. Just need to let it out.”

Levi turned his head to press a chaste kiss on Eren’s forehead. “Alright.”

“When I saw the remains, it just reminded me of my mom. Even though it’s been years and time has faded the memories, there are some parts I can’t forget. And then you just scared me at a bad time and then...my breathing thing happened.”

“I understand,” Levi murmurred. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I know those things take a lot out of you.”

Eren sighed from contentment. “Don’t be. Thanks for listening.” He moved his hand from the book, and intertwined it with Levi’s hand draped over his shoulders. “I’m so glad I have you.”

The book slid from Levi’s lap as he shifted to face Eren. “I will always be there for you, Eren,” he breathed, cupping his face in his hands. “Don’t you forget it.” And with his words he pressed a kiss to Eren’s lips. Eren closed his eyes at the warmth, and hugged Levi tightly.

In the end, life went on. Time stretched on, memories faded and new ones were made. The undead encompassed them, a part of the world. Each day was just another moment in their lives. This was just another chapter in their life, and someday, in the future, they would spend time remembering these days.

Someday.


End file.
